30/09/2003 - The 21st edition of the biggest French showcase of Italian productions is starting today and continues until October 4. The review features 40 recent films, from Avati and Bertolucci to Edoardo Winspeare

Today sees the start of the 21st edition of the Annecy Festival of Italian Cinema, which is taking place until October 4. The programme features 40 recent productions, giving festivalgoers a chance to see the latest Italian films. The Festival has kept its promise to show the star works chosen at the last Cannes Festival, like Pupi Avati, Marco Tullio Giordana, Costanza Quatriglio and Edoardo Gabbriellini and at the Venice Film Festival, like Marco Bellocchio, Bernardo Bertolucci, Edoardo Winspeare, Daniele Ciprì and Franco Maresco and Paolo Benvenuti.

The upturn in the fortunes of Italian cinema has given the Annecy Festival the chance to put on a formidable programme, starting with the two films that will open and close the event: Happiness for Free by Mimmo Calopresti starring Vincent Perez, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Francesca Neri and Gente di Roma by Ettore Scola. The jury is made up of Thierry Decourcelle (distributor, Océan Films), Mimmo Calopresti and the director, Claire Simon, who have to chose from the 5 films chosen to take part in the competition: Il ritorno di Cagliostro by Daniele Ciprì and Franco Maresco, La destinazione by Piero Sanna, Break Free by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli, Passato prossimo by Maria Sole Tognazzi and Prendimi e portami via by Tonino Zangardi. But fans of Italian cinema can also enjoy a wide variety of the most recent productions, as well as a number of special events, like Good Morning, Night by Marco Bellocchio, The Dreamers by Bernardo Bertolucci, A Heart Elsewhere by Pupi Avati, Secret File by Paolo Benvenuti , The Embalmer by Matteo Garrone, Remember Me by Gabriele Muccino, Three Women by Luciano Emmer and The Miracle by Edoardo Winspeare.

The Festival is also putting on a tribute to the city of Turin and its long love affair with the cinema, screening restored works like The Sunday Woman by Luigi Comencini or more current hits like The Best of Youth by Marco Tullio Giordana. In addition, Bernardo Bertolucci and Giuseppe Bertolucci have chosen around 10 films to showcase the variety of Italian cinema, from Antonioni to Pasolini, Gianni Amelio to Federico Fellini. Finally there’s the Sergio Leone Prize which is being given to Pasquale Scimeca this year, following the screening of his latest film, Gli indesiderabili.
The Festival is also a chance for professionals from the film world to meet up, especially at the event planned for October 4, looking at the theme of the distribution of Italian films in France and vice versa.

(Translated from French)